


when i run out of road, you bring me home

by PrepareToBeMildlyEntertained



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Adam Parrish Loves Ronan Lynch, College, College Student Adam Parrish, M/M, Ronan Lynch Loves Adam Parrish, post-epilogue, surprise visit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-08-03 16:40:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16329737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrepareToBeMildlyEntertained/pseuds/PrepareToBeMildlyEntertained
Summary: “You waiting for someone?” she asked. If possible, his eyes narrowed further. He leaned slightly forward across the bench to crowd her, but she didn’t react.“Do I not look like I belong?” he responded icily. She shook her head softly.“No, you just keep looking at your phone.” Ronan was deeply relieved that neither Gansey nor Declan had been around to hear him being accused of looking at his phonetoo often.





	when i run out of road, you bring me home

**Author's Note:**

> This was written with the Opal short story slightly in mind, but not really since it was started before the story had been released. Ultimately, I wanted to write on-campus happiness for Adam because he deserves it, and Ronan loving his boyfriend a lot because he deserves that.

It was unseasonably cold in New Jersey, and Ronan was fighting the urge to be angry about it. There were a number of things he could have done to improve the situation. He could have gotten back in his car, for example. The heat was always ready to go in the BMW – not needing warm up time was an excellent dream thing perk. He could have worn a hat. He could have slipped inside one of Princeton’s many open buildings and simply waited. But he wanted to be able to see Adam the minute he emerged from his morning bio class, and standing next to the park bench a few feet away from the parking lot offered the best vantage point.

Ronan stamped his feet on the ground and grumbled a few profanity-strewn sentences when a crisp breeze made its way across the back of his freshly shorn head. Opal had tried to force one of her many, many skull caps on him before he drove out the evening before, but he was too stubborn. Always too stubborn, and now he was going to be in a bad mood when he saw Adam for the first time in a month.

Around him, the campus was buzzing. It was 11:00 am and he could only assume that absolutely no student was left in their dorm. He caught snippets of conversation, distant laughter, the wafting scent of campus coffee, and the general sense that he was being watched.

The watching, Ronan was accustomed to. It wasn’t that he stood out amongst the Princeton student body, not like he did back home. Ten people had walked past him already today with buzzed heads or stretching tattoos, leather jacks and don’t-fuck-with-me frowns. But the aura Ronan had so preciously cultivated that made people stay away also made the stares and whispers nearly impossible to avoid. He stood out even amongst the stand outs.

After a few more minutes of freezing his ass off, Ronan finally yanked his phone out of his coat pocket to check the time. 11:06. Another nine minutes until Adam would be outside. He sat down abruptly on the bench and crossed his arms, willing the cold away through force of thought alone.

When the girl sat down next to him, Ronan went instantly on edge. It was a small bench, and she was closer to him than people generally got. Her backpack was overstuffed, and she had a cup from the café in one hand and a croissant in the other. She gave Ronan a small smile and he glowered in return. Usually that was enough, but she just looked away in an aggravatingly chipper manner and went back to eating her breakfast.

Ronan huffed and settled further into himself. He checked his phone again. 11:07. He nearly threw it. He was actively considering how angry Adam would be if he just burst into class unannounced and dragged him out when the girl cleared her throat. Ronan’s eyes narrowed as he turned to look at her.

The small smile was still there. She was dark skinned and tall, her curly hair peeking out beneath the oversized hat she had on. Ronan just stared at her.

“You waiting for someone?” she asked. If possible, his eyes narrowed further. He leaned slightly forward across the bench to crowd her, but she didn’t react.

“Do I not look like I belong?” he responded icily. She shook her head softly.

“No, you just keep looking at your phone.” Ronan was deeply relieved that neither Gansey nor Declan had been around to hear him being accused of looking at his phone _too often_. Adam was a necessary exception to a very steadfast rule. He sat back in the bench roughly, breaking eye contact.

“Yes, I am waiting for someone,” he said. He assumed that would be the end of it, but the girl just took a sip of her coffee and then spoke again.

“You can probably wait inside the building for them. You look freezing.”

“Did I fucking ask?” This at least shut her up for a while. Ronan resisted the urge to check the time again. Now that he had been called out on it, he felt like his new phone habits must currently be being broadcast across the eastern United States. At least that meant Gansey was still well out of the know.

Somewhere on campus, Ronan heard a clock tolling, which he could only assume meant that he would soon be free from this bench. More, he would soon be free from the girl and could expend absolutely all of his energy on surprise visit activities with Adam. He perked up and looked at the door where Adam would exit from, but it remained firmly closed.

“The clock is a couple of minutes early,” the girl said. Ronan whipped his head around to look at her again. She had a book open on her lap now, and was calmly tracking her way down the page while occasionally taking sips of her drink. Ronan took a deep breath inwards.

“It’s early?” he bit out. “Fucking expensive ass school can’t even fix their big as shit clock?” The girl looked up at him, smiling.

“I know, right?” She looked out in the direction of where Ronan assumed the building with the clock must be. “Although, honestly, you get used to the early ringing after a bit. I’m Rina, by the way.”

She had her hand out and Ronan just glanced at it. His arms stayed crossed when he responded, “Ronan.” Rina’s smile pinched its way into her cheeks, like she was deeply pleased to learn this information. She closed her book, and Ronan groaned internally. This is why you didn’t fucking encourage people. He went back to staring straight ahead at the door. If the clock was only two minutes early, then that meant two minutes until Adam was done.

“So, how are you? Besides cold?” Rina asked. Ronan turned his whole body towards her and bared his teeth.

“Gay,” he said.

“Ronan?” The voice startled him out of his intimidation. When he turned, there was Adam. He was bundled in a sweater Ronan had sent him a week earlier. It fit exactly as it had in the dream, and Ronan felt a rush of warmth. His sharp nose was red and he had a hat pulled down over his ears that Ronan both loved and wanted desperately to rip off.

“Parrish,” he said. He cleared his throat and stood up. “Parrish, hi.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Adam asked, but a smile was there at the corners of his mouth and he pulled Ronan towards him in a hug.

“Started driving to the store last night and then just didn’t stop.”

“You’re freezing,” Adam said, running a hand over Ronan’s head. Ronan resisted the urge to lean into the touch. It was one thing at the Barns, but it felt more vulnerable in the open morning air of an Ivy League campus full of people.

“I told him he could wait inside for you,” Rina said. Ronan turned and squinted down at her, prepared to unload a tirade of _do you ever know when to fucking quit_ but Adam got a word in first.

“Oh, morning, Rina,” he said. Through sheer force of will, Ronan kept his jaw from falling open as the girl stood up and pulled Adam into a hug. “Didn’t your class finish like half an hour ago?”

“Yeah, but I saw this guy sitting here looking unbelievably gruff and like he was attempting to intimidate the entire student body, so I figured he had to be yours.” Horrifyingly, Ronan felt his cheeks begin to go a bit pink.

“I hope he didn’t try to scare you off,” Adam said. His hand tangled with Ronan’s behind his back and Ronan felt moderately calmer. Rina laughed. She stood and picked up her backpack, slinging it over her shoulder with practiced ease. It looked unbearably heavy.

“Oh, he did. He also informed me he was spoken for,” she said. “Nice to meet you, Ronan.”

“Yeah, uh,” Ronan said smartly. Rina was already walking away. “Huh.”

“Wow, at a loss for words staring at Rina’s ass. Don’t worry, I get it,” Adam said. Ronan whipped his head around and was annoyed to be greeted by a pleased expression.

“You spend a lot of time staring at other people’s asses?” Ronan snarled. Adam rolled his eyes lightly and refused to let go when Ronan tried to tug his hand away.

“Did you really drive all the way here to immediately storm off?” Ronan swallowed thickly. Adam brought his other hand up to rest on Ronan’s cheek and pulled him in gently.

The kiss was light, not at all like they hadn’t seen each other in weeks. It was the lightness, more than anything else, that soothed Ronan into letting down his walls and allowing the public nature of the affection continue. He felt Adam’s fingertips softly against the skin near his ear and the way his classroom-warm lips melted perfectly against Ronan’s frozen ones. When Adam finally pulled back, he had a satisfied glint to his eyes that made Ronan want to drag him back to his dorm bed and keep him there for a day or two.

“How long are you here?” Adam asked. The rest of the campus sounds slowly faded back into Ronan’s existence. A girl across the lawn laughed, a car honked somewhere at the far end of the parking lot. No one even gave the two of them, standing close and feeding off each other’s warmth, a second glance.

“A couple of days,” Ronan said.

“Opal?”

“The brat is staying with the witches.”

“I have classes tomorrow afternoon.”

“I can entertain myself for a few hours. Maybe intimidate a few more friends of yours,” Ronan said, giving the word ‘friends’ an annoyed edge that was not taken the least bit seriously.

“I don’t think you actually managed to intimidate Rina in the least,” Adam said, his mouth turning fully upwards in a grin. He squeezed Ronan’s hand in his own again and Ronan found himself following along as Adam led them through campus.

Adam talked as they walked, explaining bits and pieces about certain buildings. He told Ronan a couple of stories about professors Ronan already knew by name, responding with the appropriate sounds and the occasional, “he’s still a fucking asshole”, all of which Adam took in stride. Ronan pulled them to a stop just outside the door to Adam’s dorm and Adam turned to look at him, expectant.

“This, um,” Ronan looked down and shuffled his feet. He was approaching an argument that he desperately didn’t want Adam to gloat about, despite the fact that he knew Adam didn’t spend much time gloating in their fights. He took a breath. “You look good here.”

“Are you saying you like the way I look?” Adam asked. “Ronan, this may come as a shock, but I am aware you find me attractive.” Ronan huffed a little.

“You’re such an ass. Jesus.” He took a breath. “No, you fit in here. It makes you happy, and I’m glad.” Adam didn’t say anything for enough time that Ronan was forced to look back up and meet his eyes. They were searching, reaching for a more firm explanation. Always the need to understand everything.

“You’ve seen me since I started school, Ronan.” He said. Ronan almost laughed. Between Ronan’s reluctance to say what he meant, and Adam’s brain refusing to go beyond surface level meaning, they really were a pair when it came to communication. They were getting better, though. Ronan knew it.

“No, I mean on campus. Living here is good for you.” That, at least, seemed to make a dent. It had been their most constant point of friction in the last year. Knowing Adam needed to be somewhere else and Adam actually leaving Ronan behind felt like two very separate ideas that had kept Ronan up at night more often than not. The weeks before classes started had been enough of a sign of that. Even Adam knew the admission was something large coming from Ronan. He inhaled deeply.

“I—thank you,” Adam said. Ronan nodded.

“So, when are you going to show me this dorm, so I can scare your bitch of a roommate off?” Ronan asked. Adam actually tilted his head back slightly to laugh and Ronan’s heart cheered. He wanted this for Adam always, this lightness and humor, the general feeling that a weight had been lifted.

“Charlie isn’t that bad,” Adam said. He pulled out the card Ronan assumed would unlock the door and let them into the building, but Ronan grabbed his hand before it made it to the scanner.

“One thing first,” he said. This time Ronan was the one who pulled Adam in, their lips equally cold after the morning walk. The wind still blew, but Ronan could barely feel it grazing off his head or cutting through his coat. They were pushed up against the door to Adam’s building, but Adam didn’t seem to care, so Ronan didn’t either. He was here, they were happy, and Adam finally had what he deserved. Across campus, Ronan heard the ill-timed clock begin to toll and he pulled back with a smirk to look at Adam’s dazed face.

“Now,” he said. “As much as I love freezing my balls off, let me go intimidate Charlie, because I would badly like to continue this inside.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Sweet Creature by Harry Styles
> 
> Check out my Pynch playlist [here](https://open.spotify.com/user/onceuponatimegirl/playlist/2dVresiHs39EhbKpQTKKYW?si=y1bdZwM2RJaskoE6rXMjbw)


End file.
